Anthony Perry Morse (21 August 1911 – 6 March 1984) was an American

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

who worked in both

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

, especially

measure theory In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures (length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as magnitude (mathematics), magnitude, mass, and probability of events. These seemingl ...

, and in the

foundations of mathematics Foundations of mathematics are the mathematical logic, logical and mathematics, mathematical framework that allows the development of mathematics without generating consistency, self-contradictory theories, and to have reliable concepts of theo ...

. He is best known as the co-creator, together with

John L. Kelley John L. Kelley (December 6, 1916, in Kansas – November 26, 1999, in Berkeley, California) was an American mathematician at the University of California, Berkeley, who worked in general topology and functional analysis. Kelley's 1955 text, ''Gen ...

, of Morse–Kelley set theory. This theory first appeared in print in Kelley's ''General Topology''. Morse's own version appeared later in ''A Theory of Sets''. He is also known for his work on the Morse–Sard theorem and the Federer–Morse theorem. Anthony Morse should not be confused with

Marston Morse Harold Calvin Marston Morse (March 24, 1892 – June 22, 1977) was an American mathematician best known for his work on the ''calculus of variations in the large'', a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known a ...

, known for developing

Morse theory In mathematics, specifically in differential topology, Morse theory enables one to analyze the topology of a manifold by studying differentiable functions on that manifold. According to the basic insights of Marston Morse, a typical differenti ...

Career

He received his PhD in 1937 at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

with C. R. Adams as thesis advisor. After two years at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

he joined the mathematics faculty at Berkeley where except for two interruptions he worked for the rest of his life on mathematics. In the first of these, from 1943 until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he worked on ballistics at the

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...

. In 1950 his life was interrupted by the McCarthyist loyalty oath controversy. He was one of 29 "non-signers". But he was also one of 6 who took advantage of a 10-day grace period to sign, while continuing to refer to the remaining non-signers as "patriots." His doctoral students include

Herbert Federer Herbert Federer (July 23, 1920 – April 21, 2010) was an American mathematician. He is one of the creators of geometric measure theory, at the meeting point of differential geometry and mathematical analysis.Parks, H. (2012''Remembering Herbert F ...

Woody Bledsoe Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Bledsoe (November 12, 1921 – October 4, 1995) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, and prominent educator. He is one of the founders of artificial intelligence (AI), making early contributions in pattern re ...

, and

Maurice Sion Maurice Sion (17 October 1927, Skopje – 17 April 2018, Vancouver) was an American and Canadian mathematician, specializing in measure theory and game theory. He is known for Sion's minimax theorem. Biography Sion received from New York Univer ...

References

External links

Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morse, Anthony 20th-century American mathematicians University of California, Berkeley faculty 1911 births 1984 deaths Brown University alumni